In what can only be called judicial overreach, another district judge has tried to block federal immigration enforcement, and this time it might be the most nonsensical ruling of all. A federal judge in California has curtailed the authority of Border Patrol agents to detain or deport individuals absent a judicial warrant or compelling evidence that the person poses a flight risk despite the law explicitly stating otherwise. The ruling, handed down by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston, stems from mounting concerns that the government’s actions in recent immigration sweeps violated core constitutional protections.
🚨 JUST IN: U.S. Federal District Judge Jennifer Thurston sends out an order banning Border Patrol from arresting illegal aliens “without warrant” – Fox
Holy shlit. pic.twitter.com/Fwy9NxrO4K
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 30, 2025
The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, which alleges that agents with Customs and Border Protection conducted a series of warrantless arrests across California’s Central Valley during a January operation dubbed “Return to Sender,” reported Fox News. According to the lawsuit, agents apprehended dozens of individuals—many of whom were Latino agricultural workers—based on appearance, location, or presumed employment, with little to no inquiry into their actual immigration status.
Court documents describe a pattern of aggressive removals in which detainees were driven to the U.S.-Mexico border, denied contact with lawyers or family members, and pressured to sign documents waiving their right to a hearing before an immigration judge. Judge Thurston found that these practices appeared to run afoul of the Fifth Amendment, raising serious questions about due process and the voluntariness of so-called “voluntary departure” agreements.
The White House laid into the judge for her overreach, with Trump adviser Stephen Miller going after the judge on social media.
It takes days or weeks to obtain a single warrant for a single criminal search. Requiring a warrant for Border Patrol to conduct an interdiction of an illegal alien is an act of legal insurrection against national sovereignty. Never in the history of our country or any country… https://t.co/poO98D2BrH
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) May 1, 2025
While the Department of Homeland Security maintained that the court lacked jurisdiction to intervene, CBP disclosed in parallel filings that it had already begun revising agency protocols and distributing new training materials to agents in the field. Judge Thurston, however, signaled skepticism that internal reforms alone would suffice. She ordered CBP to submit bi-monthly reports detailing the legal grounds for every arrest made in the region, thereby imposing a rare degree of judicial oversight on one of the country’s most opaque enforcement regimes.
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